It is often said that our thoughts become our words and our words become our actions. In essence, our thoughts are powerful. Yet, unlike the many elements of the outside world including traffic, waiting in lines and internet speed, we have complete control over our thoughts.
A few months ago, I found myself complaining to a friend that I felt our world was just so negative and I asked her if she agreed with me. She told me that she did not agree because she chose to focus on the positive instead of the negative and in doing so, she could see more of the good in the world on a daily basis. She said, “If you simply shift your thoughts into appreciating the positive things that you can see and feel, you’ll start to see and feel more of them.”
I told her my life wasn’t really in a great place and that I didn’t have many positive things to focus on. She explained to me that by consciously acknowledging the things that I am grateful for – however few or simple they may be – I would create more of the same. To show me what she meant, my friend challenged me to say something positive every day for one month. Being competitive by nature and thinking it sounded pretty easy, I accepted the challenge.
Write Your Thoughts Down & Share Them
To keep track of my positive ponderings I used the Gratitude Journal in the Masters of Mindfulness app. All I had to do was open the app, write down something I was grateful for every day, and then share it with my friend. The Masters of Mindfulness app features a bunch of great backgrounds and fonts to choose from so it makes the process both fun and visually rewarding. I started off with really silly entries like,
“I am grateful for the warmth of sunshine, it reminds of getting a big hug from my grandpa.”
While I was focused on completing the challenge a funny thing happened. After about a week of logging my daily entries, I started to think more deeply about what I was grateful for and began to look at why I felt that way. Before I knew it, I discovered that I no longer felt as though my life wasn't in the best place. In fact, I was actually in a pretty great place. I had so much to be thankful for and in acknowledging them, I began to feel hopeful once again.
Positive Thoughts Turn Into Positive Actions
After the month was over, I thought I had conquered the challenge and felt pretty good about it. I was amazed that something as simple as writing one true sentence about myself a day helped me to see that my life wasn't all gloom and doom, but that it was really something quite awesome.
To my surprise, my friend then showed me that she had created an Instagram account with each of my Gratitude Journal entries that I had sent her – and it already had acquired a good amount of followers. My positive thoughts had become words that were inspiring others! I really could no longer say that I didn’t have anything good to focus on, instead, I had a platform for positivity and change that now inspires me to continue to build upon every day.
Share Your Gratitude With Others
Think of your mind like a radio frequency, when you feel good (even if things aren’t technically going well in your life) that is your ideal station, and when you are putting out your best wavelengths. The stronger your frequency is, the more others can hear it, feel it, and tune into it. I don’t know about you, but when I find a good radio station, I like to keep listening to it and then I can’t help but tell my friends about it or share it with them directly.
When you think with good intentions, your words and actions are inherently good. Let’s adopt the idea of ‘paying it forward’ with the positive intentions of our thoughts. I challenge you to use the wonderful platform of social media to plant your personal seedlings in the garden of the online world and watch the rainbow of positivity that blooms.
